Systems and methods for an identification panel to measure hand static and/or dynamic characteristics

Abstract

Systems, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to controlling access to an interior of an object by way of static and/or dynamic characteristics of a hand of a user. In an embodiment, a method includes obtain first measurements that are based upon contact of the hand with a handle located on an exterior of an object over a first time period as the hand applies first force to the handle. The method includes identify the user as being authorized to access an interior of the object based upon the first measurements and second measurements, where the second measurements are based upon contact of the hand with the handle over a second time period as the hand applies second force to the handle. The method includes grant the user access to the interior of the object based on the user being authorized.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system for controlling access to an interior of an object, the system comprising:
 a processor; and 
 memory communicably coupled to the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
 obtain first measurements that are based upon contact of a hand of a user with a handle located on an exterior of the object over a first time period as the hand applies a first force to the handle, the first measurements including static characteristics and dynamic characteristics quantifying an extent of the first force, including grip pressure, orientation, and pulling force, the first measurements uniquely characterizing the user without using a fingerprint; 
 identify the user as being authorized to access the interior of the object based upon the first measurements and a profile for the handle, the profile comprising second measurements that are based upon contact of the hand of the user with the handle over a second time period as the hand applies second force to the handle, wherein the second time period occurs prior to the first time period; and 
 grant the user access to the interior of the object based on the user being authorized. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions that cause the processor to grant the user access to the interior of the object comprise instructions that cause the processor to unlock a lock comprised by the object. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the object comprises a vehicle, wherein the handle is comprised by a door of the vehicle, and wherein the interior comprises a cabin of the vehicle. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first measurements comprise a first measurement generated at a first timestep in the first time period and a second measurement generated at a second timestep in the first time period. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions that cause the processor to identify the user as being authorized to access the interior of the object based upon the first measurements and the profile for the handle comprise instructions to:
 access a machine learning model, wherein the machine learning model includes learned parameters that are based upon the second measurements; 
 provide the first measurements as input to the machine learning model; and 
 obtain a value as output of the machine learning model, wherein the value is based upon the first measurements and the learned parameters, wherein the user is identified as being authorized to access the interior of the object based upon the value. 
 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first measurements comprise one or more of:
 angles at which the handle is pulled by the hand of the user over the first time period; 
 gripping pressures applied to different regions of the handle by the hand of the user over the first time period, including changes of the gripping pressures over the first time period; 
 pulling forces applied to the different regions of the handle by the hand of the user over the first time period; or 
 overall pulling forces applied to the handle by the hand of the user over the first time period. 
 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first measurements and the second measurements are generated by a piezoelectric sensor integrated with the handle. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 prior to obtaining the first measurements, obtain the second measurements as the user applies the second force to the handle over the second time period as part of a calibration procedure for the handle. 
 
     
     
       9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for controlling access to an interior of an object and including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
 obtain first measurements that are based upon contact of a hand of a user with a handle located on an exterior of the object over a first time period as the hand applies first force to the handle, the first measurements including static characteristics and dynamic characteristics quantifying an extent of the first force, including grip pressure, orientation, and pulling force, the first measurements uniquely characterizing the user without using a fingerprint; 
 identify the user as being authorized to access the interior of the object based upon the first measurements and a profile for the user, wherein the profile comprises second measurements that are based upon contact of the hand of the user with the handle over a second time period as the hand applies second force to the handle; and 
 grant the user access to the interior of the object based on the user being authorized. 
 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the object is a building, and wherein the handle is located on a door of the building. 
     
     
       11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the processor is comprised by a server computing device, wherein the object comprises a vehicle and the interior comprises a cabin of the vehicle, wherein the handle is comprised by a door of the vehicle, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to obtain the first measurements comprise instructions that cause the processor to receive the first measurements by way of a network from the vehicle, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to grant the user access to the interior of the object based on the user being authorized comprises comprise instructions that cause the processor to transmit a signal to the vehicle by way of the network which causes the door to unlock. 
     
     
       12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 obtain a fingerprint scan of the user during the first time period as the hand applies the first force to the handle; and 
 access a stored fingerprint scan of the user, wherein identify the user as being authorized to access the interior of the object is further based upon the fingerprint scan of the user and the stored fingerprint scan of the user. 
 
     
     
       13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the first measurements comprise a first measurement that is indicative of a first pressure applied to a first region of the handle by a first digit of the hand of the user at a first timestep during the first time period and a second measurement that is indicative of a second pressure applied to a second region of the handle by a second digit of the hand of the user at the first timestep. 
     
     
       14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:
 compute a ratio between the first measurement and the second measurement, wherein identify the user as being authorized to access the interior of the object is based upon the ratio. 
 
     
     
       15. A method, comprising,
 obtaining first measurements that are based upon contact of a hand of a user with a handle located on an exterior of an object over a first time period as the hand applies first force to the handle, the first measurements including static characteristics and dynamic characteristics quantifying an extent of the first force, including grip pressure, orientation, and pulling force, the first measurements uniquely characterizing the user without using a fingerprint; 
 identifying the user as being authorized to access an interior of the object based upon the first measurements and second measurements, wherein the second measurements are based upon contact of the hand of the user with the handle over a second time period as the hand applies second force to the handle; and 
 granting the user access to the interior of the object based on the user being authorized. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first measurements comprise a first measurement that is indicative of a first pressure applied by a digit of the hand of the user at a first timestep in the first time period and a second measurement that is indicative of a second pressure applied by the digit of the hand of the user at a second timestep in the first time period. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the handle is comprised by a door of a vehicle, wherein the first measurements are obtained when the handle is moved from a rest position to a first position while being gripped by the hand of the user, wherein the user is identified as being authorized to access the interior of the object when the handle is at the first position, and wherein the door is unlocked when the handle is moved from the first position to a second position while being gripped by the hand of the user. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first measurements are stored in an N by M array, where N is a number of sensors that generated the first measurements and M is a number of timesteps during which the first measurements are generated by the sensors. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the hand of the user causes a depression on a surface of the handle, wherein an electric signal is generated based upon the depression, and wherein the first measurements are generated based upon the electrical signal. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 15 , wherein identifying the user as being authorized to access the interior of the object based upon the first measurements and the second measurements comprises compare the first measurements to the second measurements, and wherein the user is authorized when one or more of the first measurements are within a threshold range of one or more of the second measurements, respectively.